Know farther yet; whoever, fair and chaste, Rejects mankind, is by fome Sylph embrac❜d: For Spirits, freed from mortal laws, with eafe Affume what fexes and what shapes they please, What guards the purity of melting maids, In courtly balls, and midnight masquerades, Safe from the treach'rous friend, the daring spark, The glance by day, the whisper in the dark, When kind occafion prompts their warm defires, When mufic foftens, and when dancing fires? "Tis but their Sylph, the wife Celestials know, Tho' Honour is the word with Men below.

Some nymphs there are, too conscious of their face, For life predeftin'd to the Gnomes embrace. Thefe fwell their profpects and exalt their pride, When offers are difdain'd, and love deny'd: Then gay ideas croud the vacant brain,

While Peers, and Dukes, and all their sweeping train,
And Garters, Stars, and Coronets appear,

And, in soft sounds, Your Grace falutes their ear.
"Tis these that early taint the female soul,
Inftruct the eyes of young Coquettes to roll,
Teach infant cheeks a bidden blush to know,
And little hearts to flutter at a Beau.

Oft, when the world imagine women stray,
The Sylphs thro' myftic mazes guide their way,
Thro all the giddy circle they pursue,
And old impertinence expel by new.
What tender maid but must a victim fall
To one man's treat, but for another's ball?

When

When Florio speaks, what virgin could withstand,
If gentle Damon did not fqueeze her hand;
With varying vanities, from ev'ry part

They fhift the moving Toy-shop of their heart;
Where wigs with wigs, with sword-knots sword-knots

ftrive,

Beaux banish beaux, and coaches coaches drive.
This erring mortals Levity may call,
Oh blind to truth! the Sylphs contrive it all.
Of these am I, who thy protection claim;
A watchful fprite, and Ariel is my name.
Late, as I rang'd the cryftal wilds of air,
In the clear Mirror of thy ruling star
I faw, alas, fome dread event impend,

Ere to the main this morning fun defcend';
But heav'n reveals not what, or how, or where:
Warn'd by the Sylph, oh pious maid, beware!
This to difclofe is all thy guardian can :

Beware of all; but, moft, beware of Man!

He faid; when Shock, who thought she slept too

long,

Leap'd up, and wak'd his mistress with his tongue. 'Twas then, Belinda, if report fay true,

Thy eyes firft open'd on a Billet-doux ;

Wounds, Charms, and Ardors, were no fooner read, But all the Vifion vanish'd from thy head.

And now, unveil'd, the Toilet ftands display'd, Each filver vafe in myftic order laid.

First, rob'd in white, the Nymph intent adores,
With head uncover'd, the Cofmetic pow'rs.

A heav'nly image in the glass appears,

To that the bends, to that her eyes fhe rears ;
Th' inferior Prieftefs, at her altar's fide,
Trembling, begins the facred rites of Pride.
Unnumber'd treafures ope at once, and here
The various off'rings of the world appear;
From each fhe nicely culls, with curious toil,
And decks the Goddefs with the glitt'ring spoil.
This casket, India's glowing gems unlocks,
And all Arabia breathes from yonder box.

The Tortoife here and Elephant unite,

Transform'd to combs, the fpeckled and the white.
Here files of pins extend their fhining rows,
Puffs, Powders, Patches, Bibles, Billet-doux.
Now awful beauty puts on all its arms;
The fair each moment rifes in her charms,
Repairs her fmiles, awakens every grace,
And calls forth all the wonders of her face:
Sees by degrees a purer blush arise,
And keener lightnings quicken in her eyes.
The bufy Sylphs furround their darling care,
Thefe fet the head, and thofe divide the hair;
Some fold the fleeve, whilst others plait the gown.;.
And Betty's prais'd for labours not her own.

Not with more glories, in th' etherial plain,

The fun firft rifes o'er the purpled main,
Than, iffuing forth, the rival of his beams
Launch'd on the bofom of the filver'd Thames.

Fair Nymphs, and well-drefs'd Youths, around her

fhone,

But ev'ry eye was fix'd on her alone.

On her white breast a sparkling Cross she wore,
Which Jews might kifs, and Infidels adore.
Her lively looks a fprightly mind difclofe,
Quick as her eyes, and as unfix'd as thofe ;
Favours to none, to all fhe fmiles extends;
Oft fhe rejects, but never once offends.

Bright as the fun, her eyes the gazers strike,
And, like the fun, they shine on all alike.
Yet graceful ease, and sweetness void of pride,
Might hide her faults, if Belles had faults to hide :
If to her fhare fome female errors fall,

Look on her face and you'll forget 'em all.

This nymph, to the deftruction of mankind, Nourish'd two Locks which graceful hung behind In equal curls, and well confpir'd to deck, With fhining ringlets, the fmooth iv'ry neck. Love in these labyrinths his flaves detains, And mighty hearts are held in flender chains. With hairy springes we the birds betray, Slight lines of hair furprize the finny prey, Fair treffes men's imperial race infuare, And beauty draws us with a fingle hair.

Th' advent'rous Baron the bright locks admir'd;
He faw, he wifh'd, and to the prize afpir'd.j
Refolv'd to win, he meditates the way,
By force to ravish, or by fraud betray;

For when fuccefs a lover's toil attends,
Few afk, if fraud or force attain'd his ends.
For this, 'ere Phoebus rofe, he had implor'd
Propitious heav'n, and ev'ry pow'r ador'd;

:

But chiefly Love-to Love an Altar built,
Of twelve vaft French Romances, neatly gilt.
There lay three garters, half a pair of gloves,
And all the trophies of his former loves.
With tender billet-doux he lights the pyre,
And breathes three am'rous fighs to raise the fire.
Then proftrate falls, and begs, with ardent eyes,
Soon to obtain, and long poffefs the prize:
The pow'rs gave ear, and granted half his pray'r,
The reft, the winds difpers'd in empty air.
But now fecure the painted veffel glides,
The fun-beams trembling on the floating tides
While melting mufic fteals upon the sky,
And foften'd founds along the waters die ;
Smooth flow the waves, the Zephyrs gently play,
Belinda fmil'd, and all the world was gay.
All but the Sylph-with careful thoughts oppreft,
Th' impending woe fat heavy on his breast.
He fummons ftrait his Denizens of air;
The lucid fquadrons round the fails repair:
Soft o'er the shrouds aërial whispers breathe,
That feem'd but Zephyrs to the train beneath.
Some to the fun their infect-wings unfold,
Waft on the breeze, or fink in clouds of gold;
Transparent forms, too fine for mortal fight,
Their fluid bodies half diffolv'd in light.
Loofe to the wind their airy garments flew,
Thin glitt'ring textures of the filmy dew,
Dip'd in the richett tincture of the skies,
Where light difports in ever-mingling dyes,

While

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